Pearl Mary Gibbs

About Pearl Mary Gibbs

Pearl Mary (Gambanyi) Gibbs (1901–1983) described herself as a ‘battler’ because she spent her life fighting the policies and practices that oppressed Aboriginal people. Politically astute and outspoken, she ‘lived and breathed, ached and bled Aboriginal affairs’. She is remembered for her work with the Aborigines Progressive Association, her involvement in the 1938 Day of Mourning, and her community work in Dubbo, New South Wales.

Early life

Pearl Gibbs was born in La Perouse in 1901, to an Aboriginal mother, Mary Margaret Brown. Pearl and her sister Olga spent most of their youth in Yass, returning to Sydney in 1917, where they both began working as domestic servants in Potts Point. Here, Pearl met many young women and girls who had been removed from their families by the Aborigines Protection Board and placed in servitude in wealthy white homes as ‘apprentices’. During the 1920s, Pearl helped many of these young women, making representations to the Aborigines Protection Board on their behalf to improve their working conditions.

Pearl married English naval steward Robert Gibbs in 1923 and had 2 sons and a daughter. The marriage broke down in the late 1920s and her husband took control of her children, later placing them in foster care.

Losing her job in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Pearl was forced to live in the Unemployed Workers’ Camp at La Perouse. She later moved to Nowra with her mother, where the pair worked picking peas with other Aboriginal women. Angered by the unfair practices experienced by those on the Aboriginal reserve, Pearl organised protests and campaigned for better working conditions.

Involvement in the Aborigines Progressive Association

In 1937, Pearl returned to Sydney and joined the Aborigines Progressive Association (APA), founded by William Ferguson and Jack Patten to campaign for the elimination of the Aborigines Protection Board and full citizenship rights for Aboriginal people. In 1937, Pearl gave her first public speech in the Domain, where the novelty of a woman speaking, let alone about Aboriginal issues, attracted attention.

Pearl was deeply involved in organising the Day of Mourning at Australia Hall on 26 January 1938 and was the last speaker on the day, calling out the disgraceful conditions on Aboriginal stations. Later in the same week, she and her mother were part of a delegation to then Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and his wife, Enid, where they proposed a national policy for Aboriginal people that included full citizenship and equality with white Australians.

Broadcast on Aboriginal rights

On 8 June 1941, Pearl became the first Aboriginal woman to speak on radio in Australia, with her broadcast airing on 2GB Sydney and 2WL Wollongong. Reading from a carefully prepared script, Pearl condemned the exploitation of Aboriginal domestic servants and Aboriginal people’s lack of access to social services and schooling. She pointed out the contributions Aboriginal people had made to Australian society as workers, guides, and in the armed services. She concluded by asking not for pity but for ‘practical humanity’.

Life in Dubbo

After the Second World War, Pearl settled in Dubbo with her mother and sister. In 1950, she became secretary of the Dubbo branch of the Australian Aborigines’ League and in 1952 became the organising secretary of the NSW branch of the Council for Aboriginal Rights.

In 1954, Pearl became the first woman member and only the third Aboriginal person to sit on the renamed NSW Aborigines Welfare Board. Wanting to improve the conditions of Aboriginal people through her appointment, Pearl was left frustrated – often ignored and denied access to the communities she wanted to represent – and ultimately resigned in 1957.

Later years and legacy

Recognising that racism was a significant obstacle for Aboriginal people, Pearl changed her approach. In 1956, alongside friend Faith Bandler, Pearl founded the Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship (AAF), a political organisation aimed at broadening support for Aboriginal rights. In 1957, the organisation endorsed activist Jesse Street’s petition advocating for a referendum to remove the discriminatory clauses from the Australian Constitution. Together, they campaigned for 10 years, collecting more than 100,000 signatures, achieving their goal to change the Constitution in the 1967 referendum.

In 1960, Pearl obtained funding and established the first hostel in Dubbo to accommodate Aboriginal hospital patients and their families. Employed as warden, Pearl remained active in Aboriginal organisations and movements throughout her later years, serving Aboriginal people until her death in Dubbo on 28 April 1983.

Pearl is remembered for her tireless advocacy for Aboriginal rights. In a tribute, author Kevin Gilbert wrote:

References and further reading

• AIATSIS (n.d.) The 1938 Day of Mourning, AIATSIS website, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Browning D (16 June 2018) 'Because of her: Anny Druett' [radio program], Awaye!, ABC Radio National, Sydney.
• Druett A (n.d.) Pearl’s trunk, Open the Space website, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Gilbert K (1983) 'Pearl Gibbs: Aboriginal patriot', Aboriginal History, 7(1/2):4–9, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Gilbert K (1973) Because a white man will never do it, Angus & Robertson, Sydney (ebook), p. 29, accessed 30 June 2025. 
• Gilbert S (2005) 'Never forgotten: Pearl Gibbs (Gambanyi)', in Cole A, Haskins V and Paisley F (eds) Uncommon ground: white women in Aboriginal history, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
• Goodall H (2007) Pearl Mary (Gambanyi) Gibbs (1901–1983), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University website, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Goodall H (1983) 'Pearl Gibbs: some memories', Aboriginal History, 7(1/2):20–22, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Horner J (1983) 'Pearl Gibbs: a biographical tribute', Aboriginal History, 7(1/2):10–20, accessed 30 June 2025. 
• Lewis BC (9 July 2018) Activist grandmother remembered in NAIDOC week, Blue Mountains Gazette website, accessed 30 June 2025.
• Standfield R, Peckham R and Nolan J (2014) 'Aunty Pearl Gibbs: Leading for Aboriginal Rights', in Damousi J, Rubenstein K and Tomsic M (eds) Diversity in leadership: Australian women, past and present, 53–68, ANU Press, Canberra.